We range in age from 63 to 41; the other two of us are 50-somethings. We all work, three are married and I am the lone single one in the bunch. Two are moms, one is a grandmother and I try to be the best “auntie” I can to three accomplished young women. No single role in our lives defines us; as a group, I’d say we’re fairly well-rounded.

A month from now, the “baby” of our gang will be somewhere in Afghanistan; she’s the reason we needed some time away from our real lives to celebrate our friendship (and one of our birthdays). This is where the “diva” thing comes in.

For Columbus Day, we’d spent a long weekend in Fort Myers, Fla. We let our hair down, got silly, spent an afternoon on a boat, stayed up late, swam, shopped and did lots of things we don’t get to do in our everyday lives.

When it came to deciding where and how we might spend a long spring weekend, a guardian angel suggested she might be able to land us two rooms at the Mohegan Sun. We decided to take a gamble. It was close enough for three of us to drive, we could leave our cars parked in one place, have plenty to do 24 hours a day if we wanted and not be cursed by the weather if it didn’t cooperate.

None of us is a regular casino-goer, but our “angel” assured us there is a lot more to the Mohegan Sun experience than simply gambling. She got help from Karla Ford, vice president of player development at Mohegan Sun, to ensure we’d have a going-away party that let us enjoy our precious time together.

When the girls found out our Friday arrival meant we’d get to enjoy the Sun’s “Diva Days & Diva Nights” special events, they were psyched. They were leaving the men (and kids) in their lives behind, so let the good times roll!

We had a simple dinner of Frank Pepe’s famous pizza, had a special martini at the patio bar, got some “bonus” dollars to wager in the slot machines, did some shopping and even managed to convince the nightclub staff we weren’t too old to check out the dancing scene. And, that was just the first five hours. Yes, we were divas.

On Saturday, we pampered ourselves with facials and a pedicure. We savored our moments together in a sort of dream world. Each of us took time to chill by ourselves. It was whatever we wanted to do whenever we wanted to do it. We had a very fine dining experience at Todd English’s Tuscany restaurant with a table that provided plenty of people watching as the crowds streamed in to catch Katy Perry in concert.

Yes, we four ladies did take on Lady Luck. Three of us stuck with our allotted amount before calling it a day; the fourth spent hours at a certain slot machine and came away a winner. (Thank goodness for texting to let us check on her and make sure she wasn’t gambling away the family fortune.)

The greatest lesson of the weekend was not where we were or what we were doing, but more about the need for us to be together, to make a special memory of why we’re friends and to support each other in all we do.

The importance of it came home to us when the soldier among us confided how some other women in her life had questioned how she could “leave” her children to volunteer for six months’ service in Afghanistan. Why not, she had responded to them; it was what her husband had done a year ago, and he now, as she did then, would be here for their two daughters. And, if not her, then wouldn’t it be another mother – or father – who had the joined the National Guard to be of service to our nation and would find herself in the same position, she said.

If you know nothing else about this friend of mine, you can see that she’s clearly no diva. And, as this working mom, Girl Scout leader, Sunday school teacher, loving wife and good friend heads off to the other side of the world to do her duty, she knows she goes with the love and support of some thankful girlfriends.